Bylaws for the Spokane County Planning Commission

NAME

The name of the Commission shall be the Spokane County Planning Commission, hereinafter referred to in the bylaws as the "Commission".

OFFICE

The principal office of the Commission shall be the same as the office of the Spokane County Planning Division as it presently exists at the 1026 West Broadway, Spokane, Washington 99260, or as it may hereafter be moved.

MEETINGS

The Commission shall hold at lest one regular monthly meeting on the Thursday following the second Monday of the month. Provided, however, that, in those instances in which the Spokane County Planning Division advises the Commission that in the following month no matters over which the Commission has jurisdiction are pending, the Commission may cancel said regular meeting.

Special meetings may be called at any time by the chair of the Commission or a majority of the Commission members. Notices of all meetings, whether regular or special, shall comply with applicable Washington State laws, including, but not necessarily limited to, Chapter 36.70 RCW (Planning Enabling Act), Chapter 36.70A RCW (Growth Management Act), Chapter 43.21C RCW (State Environmental Policy Act), Chapter 58.17 RCW (Plats-Subdivisions-Dedications) and 42.30 RCW (Open Meetings Act).

QUORUM

Four members of the Planning Commission shall constitute a quorum, and unless provided to the contrary by state law or local county ordinance, a majority vote of those present shall be necessary to recommend action on any matters to be forwarded to the Board of County Commissioners, as stated in chapter 36.70 RCW (Planning Enabling Act).

Members of the Commission shall be responsible for contacting the Spokane County Planning Division office prior to any regular or special meeting if unable to attend. The chair of the Commission, after an affirmative vote of the majority of the Commission, is directed to notify the Board of County Commissioners of Spokane County of those members of the Commission who are absent three or more regularly scheduled meetings in any calendar year, unless excused by the chair for valid reasons.

OFFICERS

The elected officers of the Commission shall be the chair and vice-chair. Such officers shall be elected annually at the end of the January meeting and hold office until their successors are qualified and elected. The chair of the Commission shall preside over all meetings. The vice chair of the Commission shall perform all duties of the chair during the absence of the chair. The chair of the Commission shall be a member ex-officio of all Commission committees. The chair shall be responsible for communicating to the Board of County Commissioners of Spokane County such matters as may be directed by the Commission, and shall further perform such other duties as may be requested by the Commission.

The Division of Planning shall provide secretarial/administrative support to the Commission and shall assist the Commission in preparing necessary correspondence and documents related to their official duties and functions. The Division shall keep an attendance record of the members of the Commission for al regular and special meetings. Additionally, the Division shall contact and advise members in advance of all regular and special meetings.

COMMITTEES

The chair shall appoint annually at the January or February public meeting the Current Planning and Long Range Planning Subcommittees, each of which are standing committees.

The Current Planning Subcommittee will be formed for the purpose of revising, correcting and developing ordinances relative to issues of land division, zoning and development in Spokane County that need immediate attention. All actions taken by the Current Planning Subcommittees shall be submitted to the Planning Commission for their review.

The Long Range Subcommittee shall primarily be concerned with comprehensive planning and growth management issues and shall make recommendations to the Planning Commission on adoption of the comprehensive plan and refinements or modifications to existing plans or policies. They may also deal with the question of planning policies through investigation and recommendations on issues that require changes to official controls but affect or modify current directions intended by the plan.

More than one subcommittee may consider any issue; however, the Planning Commission chair will assign primary responsibility for each issue to only one subcommittees. The subcommittee will bring any recommendations to the full Commission. The general sequence of events for assignments to the subcommittees is as follows.

Subject introduced by the Planning staff to the full Planning Commission.

The chair delegates the proposal or project to the appropriate subcommittee according to the duty description contained in these bylaws.

Upon conclusion of its work, the subcommittee brings back the proposal to the full Planning Commission with its recommendation for a public hearing/action, etc.

When the subcommittee brings its recommendation back, it will make every attempt to answer questions and fully inform the other Planning Commission members to avoid confusion during a public hearing.

Membership in the standing committees shall consist of three members each. The chair may also appoint at any time other committees as deemed necessary. Each subcommittee shall have a chair, who shall be responsible for directing and coordinating the affairs of each subcommittee and reporting to the chair of the Commission.

RULES GOVERNING ALL MEMBERS

Robert's Rules of Order, as revised, shall prevail and govern the procedural aspects of all meetings except as may be provided for herein to the contrary.

AMENDMENTS

These bylaws may be amended, repealed or altered in whole or in part by a majority vote of the total membership of the Commission.

ADOPTED by the Spokane county Planning Commission this 27th day of July 2000.